What drew you to the genre of children’s books?
From the time I was very young I loved to read. Then when I grew up I became a primary school teacher and was particularly drawn to good read alouds – Roald Dahl was the master as far as I was concerned. After a time I started writing stories and poems and plays for my classes too. I guess it was a natural progression for me to want to write for children as I spent so much time with them. I remember telling my colleagues way back in 1994 (while on a school trip walking through a forest in Japan) that one day I was going to be a children’s book author. It just took me a while to work out how to do it!
What are the most important elements to consider when writing for a younger audience?
Respect your readers’ intelligence and don’t talk down to them. It’s also important to create characters that you fall in love with and stories that have great plots. I don’t write books with the intent of sending a message – if you write a great story there will be themes and ideas that shine through naturally.
Where do you get your ideas for children’s stories?
Watching the world go by, talking to people, reading the newspaper, random things that pop into my head, dreams, travelling – I get my ideas from just about anywhere.
Do you read children’s books for inspiration? What are some of your all-time favourite publications?
Not when I’m working on a book of my own – there’s always that worry you might inadvertently use an idea from someone else. That said, I go through bursts where I read a lot of children’s books to see what’s out there, what’s new and also go back and read old favourites. Some of the books I have adored include Playing Beatie Bow, Heidi, Black Beauty and Seven Little Australians.
After a successful twenty-year career in education, Jacqueline Harvey is now one of Australia’s most popular authors for children. She has written over 60 books including the bestselling Alice-Miranda, Clementine Rose, Kensy and Max and Willa and Woof series, which have received numerous short-listings and awards and are published internationally. Her picture book The Sound of the Sea was a CBCA Honour Book in 2006.
She has recently released several new picture books including Kevin the Sheep (the first in a series), The Daring Tale of Glora the Great and That Cat which are all illustrated by one of her former students, Kate Isobel Scott. A highly sought after speaker, she has delivered thousands of talks for children and adults around the world.
With a reputation for creating books that are filled with adventure, mystery, humour and heart, Jacqueline is currently working on several exciting new projects. She has narrated over twenty audio books and her Alice-Miranda series has been made into two animated feature films now available on STAN and Amazon Prime.
Join Jacqueline for Online: Writing Children’s Books, Tuesday 23 April to Friday 7 June 2024.
If you want to be the first to read great advice from our incredible tutors, subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter Newsbite.
More from Writing NSW
Check out our full range of in-person writing courses in Sydney, our online writing courses and our feedback programs to see how we can help you on your writing journey. Find out about our grants and prizes, as well as writing groups across NSW, and sign up to our weekly newsletter for writing events, opportunities and giveaways.